The invention relates to a rental and vending machine, particularly for video cassettes.
A conventional rental and vending machine, particularly used for video cassettes, including a cabinet-like housing with two oppositely disposed compartmented arrangements for storage of cassette cases containing the video cassettes, a computer controlled cassette transporting device which can be moved vertically and horizontally between the two compartmented arrangements to receive cassette cases and to transport them from and to a certain storage compartment and an inserting/dispensing chute in the housing, a reading device for reading identification codes which characterize the cassettes, and an operating field for selection of the desired cassette and for requesting and loading a cassette, said operating field being attached to the exterior of the housing and including input keys and a display.
Such a machine is described in EP-OS 191,636. This prior art machine includes a robot arrangement which comprises horizontal, vertical and transverse motion axes and corresponding movable elements. Various stepping motors are provided for the movements, each furnishing a drive by means of conveyor belts. To remove a cassette case, a guide path for the carriage moving in the transverse direction is introduced into a section of a compartment containing a cassette case and the guide path is raised vertically until it supports the cassette case. The cassette case is then pulled out of the compartment. The carriage moving in the transverse direction is able to remove cassette cases from both compartmented arrangements. In the prior art machine, the entire removal and supplying process is computer controlled.
DE-OS 3,433,709 discloses a cabinet-like automatic vending machine for rental and sale of videofilm cassettes. The cassettes stored in compartments are pushed by a spring against a wall of the compartment. This spring serves particularly to hold a remaining cassette once a further cassette disposed, in the same compartment has been removed. The cassette cases are here held in an oblique orientation and the cassettes are arranged in a viewing window in such a manner that the title of the cassette shown in the viewing window can be read. However, this arrangement makes it possible only to offer a limited number of cassettes for sale or rental since the viewing surface and thus the number of cassettes displayed on this viewing surface is limited.
In a vending machine disclosed in DE-OS 3,405,042, cassettes or other box-shaped articles such as, for example, video cassettes, are discharged and received. The video cassettes discharged by the prior art machine are coded by means of a bar code so that it is possible to further transport the cassettes by means of this code and to follow their path. In the machine, the cassette cases are arranged in a rack equipped with compartments that slope obliquely forward and downward. The cassettes are each held by a bent arm which releases the cassette by performing a rotary movement so that the cassette then slides off a rail. A tray is provided for return of the cassettes; it receives the cassette cases in a vertically upright position. In this prior art machine as well, the number of stored cassettes is limited due to their relatively large space requirement.